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Show 233 close. Beside Lynn sat Granny in her wooden rocker, glancing eagerly from face to face, with the plaid shawl-sent from Scotland by a relative, she'd had it for years-covering her legs; and against the opposite wall was the couch with the family photos hung up behind it, covering the complete wall. Sharon looked through them, these relics from the past, and in the usual place found the one of her family: her father in his wide lapel suit, her mother in the polka-dot dress, and Robbie and she standing before them. She could not remember the day the photo had been taken, she was probably five then-with her stubby little legs and her long red curls-but the photo had always hung here as long as she could remember. It gave her a good feeling, now, to see it. She bent closer, examining it: she was looking very attentive and serious for the camera, that little girl. None of them, in fact, were smiling. She had never noticed that before, how serious they all looked. It unsettled her for a moment, those serious faces. She sensed, at a distance, that old feeling of loss. And before it could come close, before it could find her, she turned back to the room, back to the warmth of these living faces. "What are you drinking, Robbie?" came Peggy's call from the kitchen. "Oh, I almost forgot-excuse me." Robbie went out to the car; Lynn leaned over in the chair so she could watch him out the door, and Granny asked, "Where'd he go? He's not leaving, is he?" "He went to the car!" Billy shouted, "He'll be right back!" Granny frowned looking at Billy; evidently, he had shouted too loudly. |